Short trip in Gunma ~2~ Tamamura hachimangu part 2

On this column, I will explain the photo.

This is Omikuji musubidokoro.
If you go to shrine, usually you can do Omikuji. Omikuji is a written fortune.
At first, you pick up one paper from a box.
And then you open the paper, and the fortune is written on the paper.
大吉　Daikichi = very very good luck
中吉   Tyukichi = very good luck
小吉   syoukichi = a little luck
吉       Kichi = OK
凶       Kyou = bad
大凶   Daikyou = very bad

After you saw the paper, you tide the paper here Omikuji musubidokoro.
I think big shrine has omikuji and you would see this Omikuji musubidokoro.
When you come to Japan, please try the Omikuji!!!

Thanks for reading!

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Short trip in Gunma ~2~ Tamamura hachimangu

I introduce the Japanese shrine.
Today I just attach photos. I will explain here tomorrow.

Japanese food ~17~ taiyaki

I introduce the Japanese sweet on this column.
It is called "taiyaki"
"tai" means "a sea bream". "yaki" means "baked"
Here is a photo. I usually don't eat this taiyaki. But I bought this yesterday because I wanted to
introduce on this blog. ^ ^

  The taste is sesame. I have never had this sesame tasted taiyaki.Nomally,taiyaki is a fish-shaped pancake stuffed with "bean jam" called "anko".
I guess the sesame tasted taiyaki is new product.

  Traditionally, a sea bream is high rank fish. It is very precious fish.
If we celebrate something such as wedding in Japanese style, we eat
a sea bream.
 We say MEDETAI when people are happy.
People eat "TAI" because they are MEDE"TAI".
  There is a saying. It means like  "throw a sprat to catch a mackerel" in English.
(It means use a small investment as bait to gain a huge profit)
In Japanese, we say throw a shrimp to catch "a sea bream".

Gochisousamadeshita.

 

 

Japanese food ~16~ Nihon syu (sake)

I had a Nihon syu at night.
Nihon syu is Japanese alchohol. The alcohlic content is 15~16%.
The name is Akagiyama.(=Mt. Akagi  "yama" means mountain.)
I have introduced the "Akagi natural park" on this blog before.
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1615883098712371315#editor/target=post;postID=3740361778452091142
Mt. Akagi is one of famous mountain in our hometown, Gunma prefecture.

  Can you see 赤城山 on the label?(Japanese is sometimes written vertically.)
赤城山 means Akagi yama.(Mt. Akagi)
  When you drink Nihon syu, you put on the bottle called "tokkuri" like this one.(right)

 The small sake cup(left) is called "Ocyoko".
Japanese people like to drink sake with Ocyoko little by little.
Heated Nihon syu is called "Atsukan". Cold Nihon syu is called "Hiya(or Ohiya)"
Can you drink Japanese drink in your country?

Thanks for reading!

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Japanese habit/custom ~12~ when you give a speech

  We sometimes have to give a speech in our daily life.
Japanese people are shy. So, I guess there are a lot of people
who don't like to give a speech in front of many people.
  There is a way to ease the tension.
  At first, you write kanji of 人 on the palm by finger.
（人 means "person " or "people" in Japanese）
 And you drink it.( you pretend to drink(or eat???) the word 人)
 And then your tension must be eased at the moment....

 I have heard this way when I was kid. I think some of children around me
used to do this when they had a tense.

  There is one more way.
  Japanese people give advice, you just imagine you were at pumpkin farm and
imagine audience pumpkin.

 I don't know these way are effective.^ ^ ;
I just introduced our habit.

Thanks for reading!

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Japanese habit/custom ~11~ a sneeze

 Are there any meaning when you do a sneeze in your culture?
In Japanese culture, if you do a  sneeze, people say someone is talking
about you at that moment.
  There is more story. I have heard about this from my parents when I was kid.

 Sneeze once= people are talking about you
 Sneeze twice= people hate you at that moment
 Sneeze three times= Someone love you
 Sneeze four times= You catch a cold at night
( I don't know this superstition is common in Japan.)

 On the comic book or anime, have you seen the scene
when character of comic do a sneeze and the other  character are talking about him?
  I have sometimes seen such scene on the comic book.
  It is a Japanese humor.

  If you read a Japanese comic or watch an anime, you may find such scene.


Yesterday was my birthday. ^ ^ 
I think the style of celebration is normal. You may get together with your family or
friends and eat cake...and so on. Someone may give a present to you.

Thanks for reading!

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Japanese habit/custom ~10~ Greeting on the street

  Do you exchange greetings with unknown people on the street in your culture?
I mean, do you say "hello" when you pass each other on the street?
In Japan, people usually don't do that. We don't have such custom.
But in my hometown, school children are trained to say "hello" to the
people in the community area.
  If your culture do that, you would find Japanese people don't do that
like your culture.
  I have heard that people in Holland are so friendly and people often do that
on the street. I like this custom. So I want to go to Holland once in the future.

  If you do that in Japan, people might see you strange people.
People who is said "hello" would think "Who is that? do I know him???".
He or she would be embarrassed so much. ^ ^ :

 It is kind of difficult to know the distance between people.
 I tell you the Japanese word.
too friendly = narenareshii
too unfriendly = yosoyososhii
 But Japanese people are distressed by the distance between people.

Thanks for reading!

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The price in Japan ~2~ shampoo

 Today's morning, the temperature is 14.7 degree.
It becomes harder for me to get up early in the morning.^ ^ ;

  I introduce the price of shampoo in Japan.
When I went to Germany last year, I found the price of shampoo
was more reasonable than Japan.
  I think the price shampoo is from around 700 yen to more 3000 yen in Japan.
(6.59~28.23 Euro   8.49~36.38 US dollar) The most cheapest shampoo
may be around 400 yen.
 Probably, I could buy about 3 Euro in Germany.

 But I really don't know the quality. The shampoo of 3000 yen does not
always suit on you.

Japanese food ~15~ mozuku

Today's okazu was mozuku at dinner.
"Okazu" means "side dishes".
The typical Japanese dish is consisted of Gohan(=rice) and Okazu(=side dish)
Here is the mozuku.

  Mozuku is a kind of seaweed. I think there are many kinds of seaweed in Japanese food
such as wakame, konbu, nori and so on.
  Can you guess what the yellow stuff above???
 That is the a chrysanthemum.
Usually, a chrysanthemum taste bitter. So I really don't like that.
But the chrysanthemum I had today did not taste anything.
 Maybe a chrysanthemum is just for enjoying the color.
 Mozuku is in the vinegar. So this dish tastes sour.

Do you want to try it?

I don't know if you can eat this mozuku at Japanese restaurant in your country.

Thanks for reading!

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Japanese habit/custom ~9~ table manner

I introduce table manner when you eat Japanese food.
I know only basic manner so I can't write in detail here.(I will attach the photo
in few days.)

1 When you eat rice, you need to hold the rice bowl.
  This is basic manner. I heard that this manner is unusual.


2 Do not sit with your elbows on the desk.
I guess this manner is common in the other culture.

3 It is not always bad to make sound when you eat.
 When you eat udon, it's better to make sound.
 People usually don't care to make sound when you eat ramen.
But about pasta, you should not make sound. Japanese people
should follow the western manner.

4 When you eat miso soup, you can touch the bowl with mouth.
   This manner is OK in Japanese culture.
   But I think you should not make a sound when you drink miso soup.

5 Tezara
   Te = hand
   zara = plate
  I often see people do "tezara". People make plate by hand so he or she can
catch if he drops the food.
 But I see a lot of article that say this is bad manner in the Internet.
If it is true, a lot of Japanese people don't know this is bad manner.




 

Japanese habit/custom ~8~ Amida kuji

I introduce one more way to decide the winer between people.
It is called Amida kuji.

Here there are 5 people. They need to decide the order among them.
1  You write down 5 strings.

2 You write the number below.

3 You write down the line like this way.

4 Everybody chooses the line.(You write the name above of the line)
   You go down. you have to go to the direction when you come to the horizontal line.

 
This way is useful when you need to decide the order among many people.
Thanks for reading. Please give me any advices.

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Japanese habit/custom ~7~ Asking for bag at restaurant

   In Japan,  it was - 1 degree at Hokkaido(one of the most coldest place in Japan)
 yesterday. How are you doing?

  When you can't eat up all of the dishes at restaurant, what do you do in your
culture? In Japan, customers sometimes ask for the bag to pack and take out
the foods which they could not eat up.
http://image.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=%E9%80%8F%E6%98%8E%E3%83%91%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF+%E7%94%BB%E5%83%8F&aq=-1&oq=&ei=UTF-8#mode%3Ddetail%26index%3D35%26st%3D1290
  Japanese people sometimes do that. (Not always)
 Do you do that in your culture?
 We do that just because you don't want to waste the foods.

 

Japanese lifestyle ~12~ heating system part 3

It is getting colder in Japan. The temperature is 15.9 degree in this morning.
I write about "tsukaisute kairo".
tsukaisute = disposable
kairo = a body warmer
In winter, many Japanese people use this tsukaisute kairo
especially when we go outside the home.
An iron powder, salt, and active carbon are packed inside this tsukaisute kairo.

1 First of all, you open the tsukaisute kairo.
2 And then you shake it
3 This tsukaisute kairo get warmer gradually.
When iron powder is oxidized, it radiates heat.
This is handy heating system. So when you need to wait for a long time
(for example, making a line at concert or ramen shop! ), this tsukaisute
kairo is useful. I remember some
students have this kairo in a school when I was kid

And the price is just 300 yen (10 packs). 2.90 Euro, 3.69 US dollar

Thanks for reading. Please give me any advices.

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Japanese habit/custom ~6~ Janken

First of all, I give you an example.
There are three people here. And there is only one cake.
They can't decide who eat the one cake.
How do decide in your culture?
In Japan, we decide it by "janken".
Each person shows weapon  by hand.
I learned that janken is already common in USA and
they call Rock-scissors-paper.

Guu = Rock

Choki = scissors

Paa = paper

In Japan, when we express the three kind of weapon,
usually, the order is Guu, Choki, Paa.

I tell about how to do Janken
1 You say,"Janken Pon!!"
2All of you show your weapon at the same time.
  Guu is superior to Choki. Choki is superior to Paper. Paper is superior to Guu.
3 If the weapon was the same, you must show the weapon again, saying
  Aiko de sho!!
4 You continue until some one win the match.

You can decide the superior person by chance.
So this is the fair and peaceful way when you have to decide who is superior.

If you are excited so much, you may be tempted to show the weapon after
you check which weapon the other person show.
But it is called "Ato dashi janken (Oso dashi janken)"
(=delayed janken)
Japanese avoid from this ato dashi janken whether or not you do intentionally.
If you do that on purpose, you must be blamed by all of the people. ^ ^ ;

Thanks for reading!

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Japanese food ~14~ yu douhu

  I introduce yu dofu on this column.
Yu douhu is tofu in boiled water.
Yu = hot water
dofu = tofu

Tofu is made from soy beans. (diced white objects)
Japanese foods have variety of foods that use soy beans.
For example, natto, soy sauce, tofu, miso and so on.
Historycally, Japanese people did not have eat meat because
Buddhism did not allow to eat meat. Soy beans was very important
foods to take protein.
(But I really don't know the history of yudofu.)
Usually, you put on ponzu when you eat yudofu.
Ponzu is a sauce containing soy sauce and vinegar or citrus juice.

Now it is getting colder in Japan.(But I guess Europe is much more
colder than here.^ ^ ; )
It is good season of yudofu now in Japan.

Thanks for reading!

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Japanese traditional culture ~6~ shichi go san

  Today is the special day for children. It is called Shichi go san.(七五三)
shichi(七)＝　７
go(五)＝５
san(三)＝３
 On 15th November, we celebrate the children who became 7 , 5 or 3 years old.
(A girl who became 3,or 7 years old. A boy who became 3 or 5 years old)
The children who became such age, go to shrine with his or her family.
And they pray for growing up well.  And they take a photo. Usually, people
would take a high quality photo at the photography studio.
People dress up like this.(from whikipedia)

 

 But nowadays, people celebrate before 15th November.

Probably, it is because 15th November is not holiday, and  because

they want to finish on the day when shrine is not crowded.

 There are not many chances for children to wear kimono.

Today is only chance.

 In my case, I used to celebrate when I was 5 years old.

 

 

Japanese expression ~4~ sumimasen

  Today, when I was in the train, I heard someone said I am sorry.
She was talking on the mobile phone.
She said "Shinpai kakete sumimasen  desita."
In Japanese, we say "sumimasen" when we apologige for something.
If I translate what she said directly, it means I am sorry for bothering you.

   In your culture, do you say sorry when someone worry about you?
In Japan, people sometimes say sorry to your neighbors who worry about you.
For example, after recovering from disease, people would say sorry to the
people who worry about you.
   Is this individual way of thinking in Japanese culture?

 By the way, sumimasen is used in various situation. We often say sumimasen in our daily life.
So I guess sumimasen is complex expression for foreign people.

  Foreign people sometimes don't understand why Japanese people apologize
in some kind of situation.
One of the reason is that the word of "sumimasen " is also used when people appreciate
for something.
 When people give a seat for someone, he or she would say sumimasen.
In this situation, sumimasen means like "thank you".
 And one of the reason has cultural background.
Japanese people are trained not to bother the other person as much as possible.
In various situation,(school discipline, home training) I think people educate you
from this idea.(Do not bother the other person). Japanese education really focus on this idea.
 (Of course, there are a lot of rude people in Japan ^ ^ ;)
 So, Japanese people often say sumimasen in daily life.

  

Japanese traditional culture ~5~ torii

I write about torii on this column.
Do you remember I attach the photo of torii when I wen to Akagi
natural park?
Here is the photo.


This object is called torii
tori = bird
i = ? it means "exist" (It is hard to translate)
When you travel in Japan, you would have chance to visit a shrine.
This torii is related to Shinto(Japanese religion).
(Shrine is the religious institution of Shinto)
Usually, we see gate in front of the shrine. Every shrine has this torii.
And the shrine is written like this symbol on the map.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Japanese_Map_symbol_%28Shrine%29.svg

What is this for? I am not sure... I guess most ot Japanese people don't know
what is the meaning of this gate... ^^;
There may be some theories. I have not studied well so I can't explain from academic
point of view.
One of them seem to be below.
It is the boundary line between our world and the sacred world.
It is like the entrance.

I would like to introduce the Tamamura hachimangu(the shrine close to my house)
in the future.

Thanks for reading. Please give me any advices.

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Don't do this in Japan ~5~ Tatamiberi

Have you seen the Japanese styled room?
We often see Japanese styled room like this in each house.

The mats on the floor are called "tatami". You may have heard of that.
The mat is made from a rush.
This is Japanese traditional mat. In Japan, we see a lot of westernized house
in the city. But many Japanese people still like the tatami room because
they feel comfortable. Japanese people sit on the tatami floor.
On wikipedia, I learn that the origin goes back more than 1200 years ago.
In Japan, we express the area of room by the numbers of tatami.
For example, we say "this room is 7 jou." (jou is the unit)
It means, you can lay out 7 number of tatami in a room.
The size of tatami is always same in Japan. So, we can guess how large is the
room.

I've got interesting story.
In Japan, it is said that people should not step on the tatamiberi.
(Tatamiberi is the edge of each tatami. Do you see the green color edge?)

I have heard that when I was kid. I heard that it is inauspicious.
But why?
I have heard that ninja used to hide under the tatami in the period of samurai(more than
400 years ago). And ninja used to assassinate a person by stabbing the part of tatamiberi.
So someone say that.

Tatamiberi is damaged easily and worn easily. So, you should take care when
you have chance to get in Japanese stylish house.  

Japanese habit/custom ~5~ omimai

  When you go to hospital to see the injured person, what do you bring for your family or friends?
"Omimai" means "going to hospital to see someone".
  Japanese people bring fruits or flowers when we go to hospital to see the injured people.
But there are some taboo in Japanese culture.
 A potted plant is one of the taboo.
  Because a potted plant take root, people associate that  the disease hang on for a long time.
 A chrysanthemum is one of the taboo.
 Because Japanese people decorate the room  with chrysanthemums at the funeral.
 A camellia is taboo.
Because whole of  petal fall all together at once.
It is said this associate with people's death.
 Do you have any taboo like these in your culture?



Thanks for reading. Please give me any advices.

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Japanese food ~13~ a souvenir, tochimochi

  Yesterday, I got a tochimochi. Someone went a trip to Hida takayama,
which is known as good spot for sightseeing.
Hida takayama is in Gifu prefecture. And you can see beautiful mountains
there. I leaned that the french famous book introduces here as nice place
for sight seeing.
  Anyway, tochimochi is like this.

tochi = a horse chestnut
mochi = rice cake
Mochi is made from rice. It is original food in Japan.
Tochimochi is sweet and tastes so nice.
mochi is sticky stuff like this.

  Japanese people usually buy a souvenir for his or her family and friends when
he or she went a trip. Do people often buy souvenir for your neighbor in your culture?
Japanese people may buy souvenir more often than the other culture's people.
Because as I told you before, Japan is "gift exchanging culture".
People expect someone to buy a souvenir when he or she goes to a trip.


Thanks for reading. Please give me any advices.

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Japanese food ~12~ The breakfast

  I introduce what I eat at the breakfast.
Here is the picture.

 On this photo, we see the rice, soup, natto(and the topping. topping were laver, a long green onion,
a quail egg ), the fish(it is broiled mackerel),
green tea. And the above on the photo, we see the laver boiled in sweetened soy sauce(left)
I don't know what were the packed bowls. I see a boiled beans.(it is brown color)
 The soup was not miso soup. I had a udon in that morning. Usually, I have a miso soup
in the morning.
 I know people don't have raw egg in the western culture. I like to put a quail egg into
natto as topping. Do you know some Japanese people like "tamago kake gohan"?
tamago = egg
kake = put on
gohan = rice
  It is the rice mixed the raw egg with soy sauce. You may be able to make it in your country.
But you would not like it if you have never had a raw egg.
  It is natural for Japanese people to eat fish for breakfast. But I heard that it is not common
to eat a fish for breakfast. And it is also natural for Japanese to eat a natto for breakfast.
  But our foods have become diversified nowadays. So, some of people would eat bread or serial
for  breakfast. In my case, I always eat rice.

Japanese lifestyle ~11~ kakaa denka

  Do you think Japanese culture is a male-dominated society?
Do you have the image of that?
  Probably, there are not a lot of women who are in a important post
in Japanese culture. Actually, it is said that the number of female politician
is lower than the other developed countries.
  But when I turn my attention to the younger generation,(lower than 40 years old)
I guess there are not so many people who think man should be stronger than
woman. That is just my opinion. So, I can't generalize what I am thinking.
I have some friends who got married. All of my friends have not dominated the
family, like "do this, do that!"
  I think older generation (more than 60 years old) build up the image of a male-
dominated society.
  As for our generation,(I am 33 years old) it is hard for me to imagine the husband(father)
who can control all of the family. If the man has the strong idea of making
a  male dominated family, the woman would not get married to him nowadays.

I will tell you a Japanese expression. That is "kakaa denka"
It means "the henpecked wife".
kakaa= mother
denka= dominated
  Gunma prefecture, my hometown is known as the region where there are
many kakaa denka family.
 Actually, the wife of each family still do house works in Japan.
But the wife controls the family budget. So, I have heard of wife who enjoys
shopping, buying  big name brands, such as Gucci,  LOUIS VUITTON and PRADA...
But she does not give money to her husband at all. ^ ^ ;
  Husband manages to survive, eating a lunch of just 500 yen while his wife
sometimes eat 1500 yen lunch.
This is pity but funny story. But it actually sometimes happens in Japan. 
 So, I doubt that Japanese culture is a real male domestic culture.

Thanks for reading!

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Japanese food ~11~ Tsuke men

   I went to ramen shop a couple of days ago.
I had a "Tsuke men" there.
Tsuke = put on
men = noodle

The price was 800 yen. (7.77 Euro / 66.50 SEK /312.18 RUB)
The taste of soup base was chicken. And I added the tasted egg
as a topping.
  The tsukemen is a variation of noodle. The noodle and the soup are
separated. We eat the noodle, putting on the soup every time.
  After the cooker boil the noodle, he  put the noodle on the cold water
just a while. And, normally, cookers use the thick noodle.
  Tsukemen became so popular nowadays. I often see this tsukemen.
But when I was kid, I have never seen this type of noodle at
ramen shop. I think somebody got the idea for this tsukemen
from the udon.
 
Thanks for reading.

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Japanese expression ~3~ itadakimasu,gochisousama

  On this posting, I will tell you about Japanese expression.
Before you eat a food, do you say something in your culture?
We say, ''Itadakimasu!''
  Some people fold their hands like Budda  besides saying that.(I don't do that)
  Itadakimasu means the polite expression of "Itadaku''(Japanese learner may know
masu is polite expression in Japanese)
 And "Itadaku"is polite expression of ''eat''. This expression sounds modesty.
We say Itadakimasu with thanks.
 I am not sure for whom we give the thanks before we eat.
If the person is not Christian, he or she would not say that to God.
Actually, there are many Buddist in japan. But we don't give the thanks to Budda.
We just say that as tradition.
Some of people may give the thanks for farmers.(This sense may be individual in Japan)
Some of people may give the thanks for ancestors.
Maybe it depends on the education of each family.
In my case, I just follow the tradition.

And in your culture, do you say anything after you eat something?
We say,"Gochisousama!"
It means like, "the dishes are good". This phrase sounds polite.
And people say this to give the thanks to the cookers.
I am working at Japanese restaurant. Customers also say this phrase to the
waiters. Customers say this to give the thanks for all people at the restaurant.

 So, when you do to Japanese restaurant, how about you say these phrase?


Thanks for reading. Please give me any advices.

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Japanese habit/custom ~4~ ocyuugen, oseibo

I wrote about te miyage before.
I want to introduce the same kind of Japanese custom.
It is called '''ocyuugen'' and ''oseibo''.
Both are the gifts for your acquaintance.
During from 15th July to 15th August, we give the ''ocyuugen'' to
your acquaintance. And in December, we give the ''oseibo'' to your
acquaintance. This tradition is still remained in Japan.
We give the ocyuugen,(or oseibo) to show our thanks to the other person.
And we also give the ocyuugen(or oseibo) to the co-workers(especially
boss of your campany). Nowadays, we sometimes ask a department store
to send those kind of stuff to the house.
  For example, the gift are such as beer, whisky, coffee, ham, sausage and so on.
(Japanese people are sensitive of the price ^ ^ ; )
But I heard that some companies do not allow to do that in order to prevent
from having a cozy relationship with a certain people.

  Each person needs to remember who gave him or her the ocyuugen (or oseibo)
and give the person who gave ocyugen. It means, we exchange the ocyuugen.
We do this custom to build up the better relationship with acquaintance.
  Exchanging the gift is one of the characteristic of Japanese culture.

Thanks for reading!

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Japanese food ~10~ A replica at restaurant

 When you travel Japan, you would go to Japanese restaurant.
And you would see some replicas in front of the entrance.
 If you have never been to Japan, you may get surprised to see that.
Here are the photos!

 I know this kind of stuffs are individual of Japanese culture.
The restaurant owners display the replicas so the customers can image the dishes of
the restaurant easily. Foreign people get surprised to see realistic replicas.
 You can't eat these dishes! It is not eatable!!
 I have seen the workman of these kind of stuffs on TV. He is making these kind of
stuff with great philosophy. He challenges to improve his technique so the replicas
become more realistic.
 

Thanks for reading!

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Japanese lifestyle ~10~ CultureDay

  Today is 3rd November. Today is holiday in Japan.
The name is ''CultureDay''.
And today is also the day when our constitution was promulgated in 1946.
  Our Constitution is based on the idea of peace and culture.
So, the law about the national holiday provides that today is the cultural day.
As I told you on this blog, it is said that the autumn is the season for culture
and art here in Japan.
  I introduce what kinds of thing happen here.
1 The Order of Culture are awarded by our emperor at the Imperial Palace Plaza.
2 Some art festivals are held by the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
3 Some museums hold events or open for free.
4 The big competition of Kendo is held at the Nihon budo kan.

 Well, today is cultural day. It is special day!
So, I would like to show my piano play.(I like to play the piano.)
The pieces are Partita 1 Predium and Corrente by J.S.Bach.

Predium

http://youtu.be/JLcNv1w_854

Corrente

http://youtu.be/6Ouhk-Tm5bI

 

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Don't do this in Japan ~ 4 ~ te miyage

  On this column, I will tell you about something when you are invited by
someone. In Japanese culture, it is important to give a ''temiyage'' when you
visit in the home.
 te = hand
 miyage = souvenir
 It means, when you visit in the home of someone, you should give a gift to
the host. People give a present to show the gratitude toward the host.
In Japanese culture, we sometimes see people exchange the gifts in our daily life.
So you had better learn what kind of situation you should exchange the gift.

  If you don't give a temiyage, the host would be unsatisfied about it.
The host would take it impolite.
(Of course, the host would not show about that to the guest.)
 But if you don't give a temiyage, Japanese people would just think
that foreign people don't know our culture. And they don't care so much.

  The gift should not be too expensive althogh. Because the host would be
annoyed to get it.
But why do they get annoyed?
 The host would be feel uneasy because he or she thinks they
are unworthy of getting such expensive gift.
 And the host  would think he or she has to exchange the gift
some day in some case. And in this situation, he or she must give the
same valuable gift. (The host just wants to save money)
The guest would avoid the situation because the guest take care the host.
 So, when Japanese people visit to the house,
we discuss the price of the temiyage.

Nomally, Japanese people buy a box of cake.
The price is from 1000yen ~2000yen. (10 euro~20 euro, 389.93 RUB~779.85)

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Short trip in Gunma ~1~ Akagi natural park

  Yesterday, I went to a trip at Akagi natural park which is located
in Gunma prefecture. On this page, I introduce the park by photo.
  Gunma prefecture is not known as the place for sightseeing among
foreign people. Probably, the reason is that there are not so many
cultural properties here. And there are not so many famous structure.
 But we can see good landscape and beautiful nature.
  I believe that your the pioneer who see the scenery of Gunma.
Just see it. It was the season of ''Kouyou''.（紅葉）
kou= red
you= leaf

 Photo are not good quality. ^ ^ ; Please just imagine the atmosphere.

After I walked around this park, I found I was so relaxed.

 

  At the last, I show the picture of ''Torii''
In Gunma, this big torii is so famous. Have you seen this structure before?
This is related to ''Shinto''. I will write about it some day. Look forward to it!

   

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